12:42 PM EDT, 05/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US retail sales held steady last month versus market views for a rise as spending gains at gas stations and appliance stores helped counter declines in the auto and non-store retailer components, Census Bureau data showed Wednesday.

Sales were flat in April following March's downwardly revised 0.6% rise. Analysts were modeling for a 0.4% increase, according to a consensus survey compiled by Bloomberg. Annually, retail sales were up 3% last month, the government data showed.

"The long-anticipated slowdown in consumer spending might be underway," BMO Senior Economist Jay Hawkins said. "Consumers appear poised to slow their spending after relentless rate hikes, stubbornly high inflation and, more recently, drained excess savings, record high debt burdens and slower job growth."

Spending on motor vehicles and parts fell 0.8% month over month in April, according to the official data. Excluding auto, retail sales advanced 0.2%, as analysts expected. Spending at gas stations jumped 3.1%. Retail sales without auto and gas retreated 0.1%, defying views for a 0.2% rise.

Retail sales at electronics and appliance stores advanced 1.5% while clothing and accessory stores notched a 1.6% increase. Smaller gains were recorded at building material and garden centers, food and beverage stores and bars and restaurants.

Declines were largest at non-store retailers and sporting goods and hobby stores, according to the Census Bureau.

Retail sales in the control group, which excludes food services, autos, gasoline stations and building materials, fell 0.3% last month and point to "lower consumer spending growth in the second quarter," Hawkins said. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected control group sales to tick up 0.1%.

Separately on Wednesday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that US consumer inflation rose at a softer-than-expected sequential pace in April, though not enough to materially change market views for the Federal Reserve to stay on pause through the first half of the year.